Pas de Deux
by DailyReader1234
Summary: Imprinting usually works out, because in Meyer's world the pairs meet in the same area, and are content to stay there. That is not real life. In real life people move around, with no intention of staying in one place. Conflicts between staying for love and leaving for made promises are never easy to resolve. Set about 13 years after Breaking Dawn.
1. Grand Allegro

A/N: I do not own the rights to Twilight. I do not wish to make money from this story. This is just a fun "What if."

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**Grand allegro** \- A combination of large jumps that has the dancer travel across the entire studio or stage - or, in this case, a country.

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_Sophie_

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My leg was cramped from sitting so long on the plane. Even the extra space that flying first class gave wasn't enough for my legs to stretch to their most comfortable position, and so my knee had ached by the end of the first hour, burned by the end of the third and had gone numb by the time the plane had landed.

_At least_, I thought, _It will only be Caleb picking me up, and he knows better than to laugh at my limp_. It was not pleasant walking down the length of the terminal with my knee forcing my leg to move in unnatural positions. _I just want to get my luggage, get his promised ice pack, get in his car and start this grueling four-hour trek to La Push. _

Who could have foreseen that Caleb would fracture his arm in the beginning of May, right before the start of our Spring Season? Or that I would soon follow him, the mild ache in my left knee turning into patellar tendonitis?

_Otherwise known as Jumper's knee._ I still mentally laughed at that one, thinking of the many leaps the choreographer threw in for me in _Sleeping Beauty_. The company told me to take the summer months off to heal and take whatever physical therapy I needed. They still wanted me to dance as Cinderella in the Fall, and were willing to work around what I needed to do to get well.

When I called Caleb to bemoan the stupidity of having to wear a knee brace and the hassle of trying to find the best physical therapist, not to mention how lonely I was with out him in Boston, he suggested I spend the summer with him.

Caleb had traveled back to his roots in La Push, Washington when he was told to do the same – rest and get well. The fracture had been a mistake of the company's behind stage, though they would rather have teeth pulled than admit to it. The best they could do was offer him paid time off, and a promise that he would still dance as a Principal in the fall. His mother and father lived and worked in Seattle, heard of a specialist Doctor residing in Forks, and had Caleb signed up for sessions before he could say whether or not he wanted to come home.

However, the four-hour ride one way from Seattle to Forks was absurd, so Caleb ended up living with his grandmother in La Push, and was very excited for me to come spend the rest of the summer healing with him.

_That doctor had better be worth all the pain my knee is going to be in, by the time we finally reach Caleb's home._ I grimaced, as I hobbled forward to grab my first bag from the belt. But where was Caleb? I kept one eye on the conveyer belt and took darting glances around with the other. By the time my second bag came out I was torn between being worried and annoyed. _Caleb knew it was today._ I thought as I limped over to where there was a larger crowd of receivers. _I spoke to him only six hours ago. He cannot have forgotten._

There, a little ways away, were two young men who stood at least a head and shoulder above the rest of the crowd. One of them held a sign on it that read Ms. Sophie Weaver and had a little picture of point shoes on the side. Sighing, and hoping this was some prank Caleb was playing, I shuffled towards them.

"Are you a Ms. Sophie Weaver?" The one with the sign asked.

"Guilty as charged." I admitted.

"Oh, good!" The other said. "We were worried you hadn't seen our sign and walked out. We're friends of Caleb. I'm Quil," he shook my hand and I almost jumped at how hot his hand felt.

"And I'm Jacob," the one with the sign added, also giving me an abnormally hot handshake. Those names rang a bell. I was sure Caleb had mentioned them before while talking about the friends he made, but I couldn't remember much about them. "Caleb says that there is a message on your phone that explains everything, but he was stuck between having strangers pick you up and having a surprise for you when you get to his house, and the surprise won."

"That would be Caleb." I shook my head, not surprised. "What ever he's planning had better be good. Not that I mind being picked up by you!" I hastily added incase they took offence. "I was just looking forward to seeing him."

"Understandable." Jacob said smoothly. "If you're all set we could head out and make it to La Push by dinner. Are you hungry?"

"A little," I admitted. "I also will need an ice pack – did Caleb send you with one?"

"He did, actually." Quil said. "It's in a cooler in Jacob's car along with some of your favorite foods I understand."

"Then I will gladly follow you anywhere." I replied fervently.

They were really nice about my limp. Quil took control of the bags and my backpack, and Jacob actually gave me his arm after watching me limp became too painful for him to bear. While I held on, I listened to Caleb's voice message about how he promised to make it up to me. The excitement in his voice made me believe that it might be worth it to be in the car with strangers for four hours so that he could get his project done.

That was until I saw the car Jacob drove. Although I had nothing against small cars, I had been dreaming of Caleb's granny's van to stretch out in.

Jacob saw the look on my face and assured me it was bigger on the inside than it looked.

"Unless there is an extra dimension in your car, I rather doubt it." I sighed. "No, I'll take the back," I told Quil who was opening the backdoor to get in.

"Are you sure?" He asked confused.

"Yes. Because then I can stretch my leg over the seat at least."

Quil graciously moved the cooler to the front of the car, and Jacob helped me get settled in the back. "Just don't kill me." I told him as I buckled and then turned my body so the seat belt would cause more damage than help if we were stopped fast.

"I promise not to." Jacob responded somberly, and as he started the car Quil handed me an ice pack, which I gratefully took.

The car ride was long, but I enjoyed listening to Jacob – or Jake as he told me to call him – and Quil share stories of growing up in La Push. From what I could understand both of them were dating girls from the area, Quil's was about to graduate high school and Jacob was unspecific about his girl's age. They both had jobs in the area, Jacob was a well-known mechanic and Quil worked for a data entry company at his house. They also sounded like they were part time policemen, for La Push and the surrounding areas.

Soon I found myself telling them all about how Caleb and I met, which they seemed to know from Caleb's side. We were thrown together in the University of Michigan's orientation program, being the only two dancers who were also going for literary degrees. There we had become unofficial dance partners, as we had similar work ethics. Then we bonded one late night when the crazy family stories came out and to our amazement we both had great-grandparents who came from La Push. While my family had moved away from the area, Caleb's had stayed for another couple generations, but the common ancestral haunting ground was enough for us to declare blood relation.

The result was an indulgent tolerance from our classmates, and wonderful awkward moments from professors until they realized our joke. Jake and Quil laughed as I explained the utter lack of family resemblance, and the willingness to dance intimately made the faculty uncertain about our relationship.

"It was horrible to do," I sighed. "But so much fun when it lasted. Then I was signed for a ballet company in California, and Caleb went to Boston. A year later, I happened to audition for Boston and I was admitted. Since then, we've been fortunate enough to dance at least once a season with each other. I've progressed faster than Caleb, which confuses me because he is just as good."

"According to him, you are the truly amazing dancer." Quil pointed out.

"I think it is because he does not put him self out enough. I am bolder than he is, but then I have been working at this longer and if my knee doesn't completely recover, I might be done with dance sooner. Dr. Cullen has worked a miracle for Caleb's arm, or so says Caleb. I'm hoping he'll be able to conjure up another for my knee."

"Dr. Cullen's great." Quil reassured. "He's a super doctor – he fixed Jake's ribs years ago when it looked like they wouldn't heal correctly, and since then he's been helping out with both Forks and La Push. Mostly he just takes specialty cases now."

"I was lucky to get him." I admitted. "Being a known ballerina has some perks. He and his wife apparently came and saw our production of _Carmen_. I guess they were interested to see the new adaptation, and were able to fly out to Boston for it." I shoot my head at the extravagance of wealthy Doctors. "Apparently we even spoke briefly after the performance, but for the life of me I cannot remember either of them. Caleb said they recognized him instantly too and asked about me before I called." I sighed. "Tendonitis isn't a life threatening injury, it's just concerning that I have it so intensely so early in my career. But I suppose, even if I were to stop now, I've had a good run of it, and I have no intention of letting this beat me yet."

"How long do dancers dance for?" Jake asked. "Do you want to look at Forks or head straight to La Push?" He added.

"Honestly, as nice as your car is, I would rather be in a place where I can stretch and not be in pain anymore. I'll see Forks later." I shifted a little; my ice pack had long since become useless. "Dancers – ballet dancers – usually last until their early to late thirties until our bodies give up on us. If you're dancing ballet when you're forty you are remarkably lucky. Personally, I'd like to dance for another four years, maybe five and then settle down and have a family. I'd still dance a little, but I'd love to teach it, and possibly put my B.A. in English Lit to good use. The trick is going to be getting my company to let me go – they don't like to let go of good dancers. They would rather run us like horses until we can't dance anymore. I'd rather have a family before I'm forty, so I can see some potential disagreements between us in the future. Maybe this injury will help me to get out when I want to."

"You seem very optimistic," Quil said.

"You've caught me on a good day," I laughed. "Ask me again tomorrow and I'll probably wail and rage about my knee taking me away from the one thing that I have loved and worked for during the past twenty-one years of my life. But I always knew it would come to an end, especially because I refuse to be one of those ballerina moms who's never around for her kids." Through the trees I could glimpse patches of blue, and then the entire left side opened up to show the ocean. "Oh, wow." I gasped. "That's a view."

"It never gets old," Quil smiled.

"I would imagine not!" I exclaimed. Too soon the ocean disappeared behind the trees, but I was reassured that I would see it again soon.

We pulled up to a small brown house that had surprising number of people playing games, and eating food around it. "Shoot." Jake muttered. "I forgot to tell you about the welcoming committee." The people stopped what they were doing when Jake's car pulled up, and one ran inside.

"The welcoming committee?" I asked, confused.

Quil nodded. "Caleb thought you'd like to meet some of the people he's been talking about, so Kim and Claire pulled together a small welcoming party. We were supposed to tell you, but we forgot."

"A _small_ welcoming party?" I repeated looking at the group that was gathered. "Is every guy in La Push a giant?"

Jake laughed. "Hardly." He looked back at me as two girls approached the car. "Shall we?" He asked.

"Sure," I swung my leg over and unbuckled. "I can show off my limp in front of strangers just as easily as I can by myself."

Quil laughed and got out of the car. He walked over to one of the girls and gave her a kiss. The girl laughed and swatted at him. Jake had come over to my side of the car and helped me out, and I gingerly tested my weight.

"Kim, Claire, come meet Sophie." Jake invited, politely giving me time to adjust my balance. The two girls came up and welcomed me with hugs. Claire was the one who Quil kissed, and Kim beckoned over to another boy who introduced himself as Jared. This seemed to be the cue for the rest of the party to come over. The number of names and hot handshakes I was given were overwhelming. After a few names I gave up trying to remember everyone, and hoped that Caleb would help me with them later on.

Finally when I started to feel a little too overwhelmed, a familiar voice called out, "I asked you to welcome her, not smother her." There on the porch was Caleb, and a girl and boy. The crowd that had formed around me dissipated, and I walked as quickly as I could to give Caleb a hug. But that was not enough to show his joy of having me here, so he lifted me up and spun me. Laughing I begged to be put down, and at last he did. "I am so sorry I wasn't there to pick you up." He said earnestly.

"Ah, well, this surprise had better be worth it." I replied.

"Oh, trust me it is." He promised and laughed. "Come inside and see."

"My bags," I remembered, and turned to see Jake with my backpack and two bags, and Quil with the cooler. "Your limo service is amazing." I told him in a stage whisper. "I think I prefer them to you – especially since you would make me carry my own bags."

"Not with your limp," He replied gently, watching me wince up the stairs. "How bad is it?"

"Well, I've been sitting for about nine hours today, so not great." I said, making it to the top of the porch. "I'm sure it will loosen up soon. As soon as I eat I'll be able to take more pain meds." As if my words magically summoned it, the smell of hamburgers on the grill wafted over.

"The guys are really good at cookouts," Caleb explained, interpreting my look. "This is Brady, and this is Leah," He introduced the people who came out on the porch with him.

"_Your _Leah?" I asked him sharply, and when she blushed and he nodded, I pulled her in for a hug. "I'm sorry," I told her as I felt her stiffen. "I've heard so much about you – all good things – that I feel like I already know you. Caleb has gone on and on about how wonderful and beautiful you are, and I was hoping he exaggerated, but unfortunately for me it looks like he was spot on."

"He's told me a lot about you too." She said, but relaxed marginally and gave me a smile. She too was burning up. I vaguely wondered if Caleb was aware that everyone here seemed to have a fever, but chose not to say anything and instead turned to great Brady.

Brady shook my hand, greeting me warmly, before he opened the door and helped me up the last few steps. "Thank you," I smiled, causing him to blush and look away. I looked back at Caleb for directions.

"Your room is on the split level. Granny insisted you take the best guest room, so reassigned me to the top floor." Caleb sighed.

"She also wanted to give the girl with the leg injury the fewest stairs to climb," Leah mercilessly pointed out.

"I suppose," Caleb sighed again dramatically, and he, Leah, Jake and Quil followed me inside. Brady muttered about wanting to go check on the hamburgers closed the door behind us.

I loved my room. It was beautiful, with the wooden beams across the ceiling and bright blue paint on the walls. My view faced the forest, and my window was just a little ways up from the ground. "You can see more from the upper windows," Caleb explained, a little embarrassed. "But with your leg and all we thought-"

"I love it." I cut him off. "This is a truly magical place. I'll have to thank your Granny, since I'm sure you didn't pick out the matching curtains and bed spread. Is she here?"

Caleb shook his head. "She's in Seattle this week visiting my parents. She'll be back Sunday, and is looking forward to meeting you."

"I'll have to prepare supper for her that night at least to show my thanks," I thought out loud.

Caleb laughed. "You don't have to cook, even if you are much better at it than I. Come on – let me show you the surprise. It's in the basement." Still followed by Jake and Quil, who declared they wanted to see the finished product and my reaction to it, Caleb gently helped me down the stairs. When we reached the bottom, Caleb put his hands over my eyes, I heard some one open a door, and Caleb guided me through. He led me into an open space and then took his hands off my eyes.

I gasped and almost started crying. I couldn't believe it. The setting sun shown through open windows on my left, and on my right was more of the same. In front of me were big full wall mirrors, and in their reflection I saw two mobile barres and a sound system.

"Everything was installed today and yesterday," Caleb was explaining. "Everyone helped out, but Embry did a lot of the work on the floor and for the barres to make them smooth."

I looked down at the wood floor and kicked off my shoes to feel its smoothness through my socks.

"It's beautiful," I pirouetted to my right, away from Caleb, ignoring the sting in my left knee as I pushed off. The one thing that had me so concerned about coming to stay with Caleb was how he had no space to really practice. I lost sleep with worry about where I would do my exercises and start to learn the routines I needed to know.

"The sun will rise through those windows," Caleb pointed to the wall on the right.

I stopped spinning and smiled. "We can do our warm ups in here."

"I'm working on us being able to use the Port Angeles ballet studio when we really need to practice, but for what we need now this should be fine. Is the surprise worth it?" He asked anxiously.

"Maybe," I replied mischievously. "There's just one test to make." I went en point, my right leg supporting almost all of my body weight and my left just keeping me balanced. To my delight Caleb came up and led me through a promenade and into a couple of pirouettes. I laughed when he lifted me up over his head, and I moved into a poisson. He felt the shift and slowly walked me around in a circle. I felt him shift and I dropped into a fish dive, safely in his arms, where we stayed for a second before we became aware of the applause. Leah, Jacob, Quil, Claire and yet another tall man were standing in the doorway watching us.

"That was beautiful!" Claire exclaimed.

"I'm just glad that the ceiling isn't a few inches lower, and that my partner isn't a few inches taller," I said ruefully. "Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to toss me the little that you did."

"I'm glad that my arms are getting back to their strength. I felt your body tense while in the lift and I assumed your knee was hurting." Caleb added.

"It was, but it was worth it to be lifted by you again!" I replied, hugging Caleb. He helped me walk over to the group as I explained. "The guy they pared me with in Caleb's absence was…"

"Abysmal?" Caleb suggested.

"I was going to say full of himself, but that works too." I looked around the room as the light faded. "I love this gift Caleb. Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me – you should thank Embry." He stopped in front the one whose name I didn't know. "He did most of the work."

"Well then," I took Embry's hand, and his eyes drifted, embarrassed, to the floor. "Thank you Embry. This is beyond anything I could have dreamed."

He opened his mouth to speak, and then he looked directly into my eyes. His jaw dropped.

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A/N: For awhile I've thought a lot about the "Imprinting" situation from Twilight. Stephanie Myers has really weird ideas about love, to my mind, and Imprinting is certainly up there. It seems that most imprinting goes with out a hitch - it's like Disney love at first sight, except stronger. While we can imagine some drama, the guy gets the girl with out a hitch at the end. I wanted to play around with that, and to see what would happen if an Imprintee was some one who had an established career, was incredibly dedicated to that career, and lived on the other side of the country. With in these parameters, there are no easy decisions.

I will be posting once a month, on the first of every month, at least.

Please let me know what you think so far. Thanks for reading!


	2. a Terre

A/N: I do not own Twilight, not do I want to make money from this story. This is just for fun!

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_a __terre: _ On the ground.

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_Sophie_

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"Oh Shit!" Jake exclaimed, and Embry's hand tightened slightly around mine, though his eyes never left my face. Suddenly Quil and Jake grabbed Embry and forced him to let go of my hand. When he lost contact, Embry started shaking, causing Jake and Quil to grab on to him even tighter. Before I knew what was happening, Leah had pulled Claire over to where Caleb and I stood, and positioned herself slightly in front of us.

"Don't you dare." Quil hissed. "Not in front of Claire."

"Or Caleb." Leah added, crouching slightly.

"Or Sophie." Jake gripped Embry harder. "Let's go talk, and you can meet Sophie later." It was not a suggestion as they half dragged Embry out of the small studio. When we heard the door slam, Leah relaxed and took Caleb's hand, which calmed her small shakes.

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked.

"No. Not at all." Caleb replied firmly, and then looked at Leah to explain.

"Embry is… shy." She said slowly. "You startled him. But Jake will talk to him and I'm sure he'll want to be introduced to you later."

I knew instinctively that wasn't it at all, but the look on her face indicated that I wasn't going to get any other explanation out of her.

"Well," Claire said, touching my arm, and smiling as if nothing happened. "Shall we go see if the burgers are ready?"

Caleb needed no second suggestion; he gave one speaking glance at Leah and then shrugged when she shook her head. "Let's eat then! Sophie must be starving from her travels, and you must be starving from running patrols all day." He led Leah to the door, and I managed a steady, if slow, pace behind them.

"What about me?" Claire muttered behind me. "I have just as much right to be starving too."

"What did you do today?" I asked as we reached the door.

"I work up in Forks at their coffee shop. I had to take the early shift, and then some one couldn't come in so I worked until lunch. Then I came back here, helped put the finishing touches on your studio, and planned for your party. I am not only hungry, I am tired." She added with a huff.

"You should be, after all that work!" I exclaimed.

"Well, the pay is good. I want to go to college after I graduate, and even with the scholarships I plan on getting, it still is going to cost a lot of money."

"I know it." I sighed. "I would never have been able to touch the tuition if Michigan hadn't given me a very generous dance scholarship."

"They should have given you a free ride!" Claire was surprised. "You're the best dancer I've ever seen!"

I blushed. "Thank you," I said honestly touched.

"And I know dance, at least a little." Claire added as she guided me towards the food. "I've danced for about eight years in Forks, and I hope to dance a bit in college. But I've seen some of the ballet productions in Seattle – it's magical how good those dancers are, and yet I know you could do it better."

"I'm lucky that I'm good at what I love to do." I replied. "What kind of dance?" I asked.

"I love modern and tap," Claire said doing a little shuffle, which made me smile. "I was into ballet when I was younger, but those awful shoes hurt too much for me to want to stick with it."

"But it's fun to dance with them," I smiled dreamily. "There are moments when I'm sure gravity doesn't apply to me anymore and that I've never felt with any other kind of dance."

"Lucky for you," Claire laughed. "For me, that's not what I want to do with my life, so I'd rather leave my feet un-mangled."

"There is that," I agreed, and allowed her to help me with food and then a place to spread out on the lawn. I winced as I sat down and then positioned my leg to be comfortable. "What would you like to do then?" I asked.

"Well first she wanted to be a princess," Quil came and sat next to her. "Then it was a vet."

"Quil!" She screamed and pushed him.

"Then it was a fashion design. Then a vet again." Quil continued. "Then I think it was a model, which I would support as long as you didn't fall prey to any of those silly body issues."

"What is it now?" I asked Claire.

"A vet." She laughed.

"Big animals or small animals?" I had enough friends in college who were vets to know what I was talking about.

"Definitely Big." Jared spoke for her as he and Kim came and sat on my other side. "At least one would hope."

"Why's that?" I asked.

They froze for a second before Claire smoothly said, "I've grown up outside a National Forest where wolves and bears live. I don't think I could look at anything smaller with out some disappointment."

"You've seen wolves?" I was amazed. When Claire admitted she had I sighed in envy. "I would love to see them too. Seeing wild wolves must be a sight!"

"Well I don't know if I would call them wild," Kim laughed, her eyes sparkled. "But they definitely are a sight worth seeing."

A car pulled up outside the house, and out of it came a young couple, two girls and a boy. Most of the group got up to greet them, Brady had his arm around the eldest girl, and I was amazed with how intently he was listening to what she had to say. Not many twenty plus guys would listen that attentively to a girl around thirteen, but they seemed to have a special bond. Jared and Quil had gone over to greet them, so Kim leaned over to me. "That's Sam and Emily," she said in a low voice. "He used to be the leader of… I guess you'd call them forest rangers."

"Forrest protectors is more like it," Claire amended. "Jake is now in charge that Sam's retired."

"He's too young to be retired." I muttered.

Kim hesitated. "It was a demanding job, and while it had a lot of benefits the demands aren't worth it when you want to start a family – which he and Emily did. Jared's thinking of retiring soon too." She added softly.

"They now have three kids." Claire said fondly. "Alex is the oldest, he's twelve. Sarah's eleven, and Ari was a bit of a surprise. She's only three."

"They're sweet." I watched the boy tentatively join the group of younger looking guys who I was sure I had met and couldn't remember any of their names. "There are so many of you." I sighed.

The little girl, Ari ran over and straight into Kim's arms. Kim gave her a big hug, laughing. Ari kissed Kim on the cheek and then was handed over to Claire who gave and received similar treatment. She then settled on Claire's lap and looked at me. "You're new," she stated.

"I am," I agreed.

She looked at me with a measuring gaze then called out, "Daddy! Come see – there's some one new!"

"So I've heard," Sam said as he came towards us. I got up quickly and then almost fell on Kim. I had forgotten about my knee and it reminded me with a vengeance. She was quicker than I was and helped me right myself, however, I was blushing when I had finally regained my balance. "Sam Uley," he offered his hand, which I took.

"Sophie Weaver." I responded in kind.

"I'm Emily Uley," Emily said and offered her hand, which turned into a hug.

"Pleased to meet you." I said honestly. "I think they have lots of food over there," I pointed. "I don't know if you're hungry or not."

"Alex almost always is." Emily said fondly as she watched her son get a plate of food. "I have already eaten though, and would like to meet you. It's not often we have famous dancers visit us. Sam – it looks like Quil wants to talk to you."

Sam went a short distance away to talk to Quil and Jared took a seat and pulled Kim down on his lap. Claire went with Ari to get her some of the treats and as Emily sat down gracefully I wondered how I was going to sit down and get back up again, my knee was beginning to throb.

"Here," a deep voice came from behind me. "Let me help," I turned to see Embry walking up quickly, with Jake watching us with an unreadable smile on his face.

"Thank you," I said, a little nervous. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable, and it was clear he was trying to make amends for before. Embry's hands were steady as he helped me sit, though they seemed to be unnaturally warm like everyone else's.

"You're welcome." He smiled uncertainly then took a seat next to me, looking as if he half expected me to tell him to leave.

"How are you, Embry?" Emily asked with a knowing smile.

"Better," he replied, though he didn't look at Emily. His eyes were on me. "Better than I have been ever."

She smiled brighter and I finally realized what I had been looking at. There were old scars running down her cheek. Suddenly the tales of wild animals – bears and wolves and who knew what else – made me nervous, and I shivered, the motion wrenched my knee.

"Are you alright?" Embry's arm was almost instantly around me. "Do you need something? Are you cold?"

"Not cold," I gritted out, waiting for the pain to pass, and then I slapped my forehead. "Stupid," I muttered to myself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." In all the excitement of meeting the welcoming committee I had forgotten to take my pain medication. "Caleb!" I called out, looking around for him, not registering how Embry's body stiffened next to me. He was sitting with Leah, Jake, Quil and Sam in what seemed to be a deep conversation, but looked up at my voice. "Pain medication, smallest backpack pocket should be in there with slippers and ribbon." I looked back at Embry. "That should make it better."

"Your knee?" Emily asked sympathetically.

I nodded. "I'm too young to complain of tendonitis." I joked sadly. "It doesn't even come with any handy weather predictions."

Caleb came out with medicine and water, which I took with profuse relief. "I should've gotten it for you sooner, baby," he apologized kissing my forehead as I choked down a couple of pills. This time I felt Embry's arm tense around my shoulder.

Jared reached over and shook Embry. "They're friends, relax." He commanded in a low tone. Embry took his arm away and Caleb looked embarrassed.

"Sorry," he strangely apologized to Embry. "She and I are practically siblings, you have to understand that." Embry slowly nodded, and Caleb focused back on me. "Do you need something else? Ice pack?"

I nodded, "That would be nice." Caleb left to go get one and I turned to look at Embry again. "I didn't get a chance to properly thank you before, but that dance studio is a work of art. I will never be able to thank you enough."

"It was nothing," Embry replied running his hand through his hair, though he looked extremely pleased. "Caleb's made Leah a lot happier in the past two months than she's been in years."

"I've never heard or seen Caleb so happy as when he's told me about her, I think it's mutual. She's wonderful." I smiled as Caleb came out with ice pack and took a detour to hug Leah. "Do I have to make you all dinner to thank you for making Caleb feel welcome?"

"That's not necessary," Embry began but Jared cut him off.

"Let her make dinner for us! I think that's a perfect way to thank all of us for all of the incredibly hard work." Jared laughed and barely flinched when Kim elbowed him in the ribs.

"Be warned," Emily said seriously, though her eyes danced. "If you cook for them once they are sure to come back again, and again, and again."

"I think I could handle that. I love to cook, but Caleb and I have to be so careful that with what we eat that it's almost not worth it. And I do owe you all for the most beautiful warm up studio ever. The barres and the floor beams are too perfect to be real."

"You don't really owe us any thing." Embry said. "Really the whole pack was excited to help, and I love doing woodwork."

"He's being modest," Jared interrupted. "Embry's been doing fancy wood carvings that are sold at huge prices in Seattle, and he's been putting him self through college with the money he makes from those and other furniture pieces."

"Really?" I asked Embry. "That might be one of the most impressive things I've heard in the longest time. What's your major? What university?"

"I'm doing a Civil Engineering major with a minor in Accounting, at the University of Seattle."

"That must be a horrid commute," I said sympathetically, as I thought of the four-hour trek I took today.

"It can be, by car at least," he half smiled. "During the semester I take as many online classes I can and try to stack my other classes on one day or two so I don't have to go out there as often. I've also been going part time for the past seven years or so." He blushed at this, and looked embarrassed. As if it mattered how long it was taking him to graduate.

I told him so, and was describing the dance scholarships Caleb and I competed for when Caleb returned with my ice pack. He sat with a plate of food, which he offered to Embry, and together we told the story of how we begged and bartered our way through college.

It grew late and people started to drift out, calling pleasant good byes. Ari had come and curled up on her mom's lap. She was nodding off when Emily decided it was time for her clan to go, after making me promise to visit her soon. Jake headed out soon after, he offered to help clean up but I waved him off saying that he had done enough for the day. Leah helped Caleb start to clean up, and Embry stayed by my side looking at me intently as if he needed my permission to say or go.

After watching Leah carry in an enormous pile of dishes, I turned to him and said "I know you've done a lot for me already today, but I could use two more favors."

"Anything," he replied, almost too quickly.

I laughed, which made him smile broadly. "If I had know you would agree so easily I would have asked for more! But I need you to first help me up and then help me to the kitchen where I'm sure the massive pile of dishes is making Caleb regret inviting me here."

"That's easy enough," he said and he stood up. I reached out my arms to be helped up, and for a second he looked at me. Then a mischievous glint came into his eyes and instead of helping me up, he picked me up off the ground and began to walk inside.

"Excuse me." I tried to sound offended. "This is not what I asked for."

"You asked me to help you up and to help you inside." Embry replied unremorsefully. "Are you up?" He asked.

"I'm not standing up."

"You didn't specify. Are you being helped into the kitchen?" I didn't respond that that one. After a moment to open the door he added, "I didn't want to see you hurt. I couldn't bear watching you limp."

I laughed at that. I decided that must be the price for being bigger than everyone else; you felt more protective towards people smaller than yourself.

When we reached the sink, Embry put me down and waited until I stabilized myself before slowly drawing his arms away. Leah and Caleb were still clearing plates from out side and so I dug around the huge pile of dishes to find the sponge. No dishwasher in this kitchen. To my surprise Embry found a cloth and stood next to me expectantly. "You wash, I dry?" He asked hesitantly.

"Think you can keep up?" I challenged rolling up my sleeves.

"I bet I can." He said confidently, dramatically flicking out the towel.

"You're on." I turned the water up as hot as I could bear it and started scrubbing.

By the time Caleb and Leah had found all the plates, put away the extra food, collected the trash and moved it out into the bigger trash can, Embry and I had sprayed each other with water, called each other out on cheating while trying to get the dishes done quickly and successfully broken the ice between us. We quickly finished the rest of the dishes and then Embry very gallantly cleaned up the water that was swimming on the floor of the kitchen.

I was yawning and swaying a little. It had been a wonderful day, but it was a long time since I had seen my bed in Boston that morning. I looked at a clock and realized it was three or four in the morning my time, I couldn't remember the time difference. Embry noticed and immediately suggested I head off to bed, and I agreed wholeheartedly.

Caleb reminded me that I had my first appointment with Dr. Cullen the next day and suggested we visit Forks for lunch and to poke around afterwards. I murmured an agreement, and the next thing I knew I was in the air again. Embry carried me to my room, and placed me into the nicely made up bed. I wanted to protest that I needed to shower and brush my teeth, but as my eyes closed I decided that my hygiene could deal for one night, and with that thought I was asleep.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Please let me know any thoughts, comments or questions!


	3. Temps lie

A/N: Twilight is not mine. I'm borrowing the characters so I can run them through the mill.

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Temps lie - to transfer weight from one leg to another

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_Sophie_

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Some where between the eight am classes in college and then professional dance rehearsals after I graduated, I lost my ability to sleep in past nine in the morning on my days off. If I was sick I could push my body to sleep until ten, but otherwise my internal alarm woke me earlier than I wanted.

When I woke the first morning in La Push, I was confused by how dark it was in my room. However a quick look at the clock showed it to be three thirty five in the morning and I groaned as I realized my body had risen with the Boston sun. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. I woke again at five, and then again at ten to six. I sighed, and decided I would have to adapt to the time difference another day.

I threw the covers to one side and sat up. I gingerly put my legs over the side of the bed and tested my weight on my knee while sitting. It hurt, but not as badly as it had yesterday. _Thank you drugs and ice_ I thought as I got up and found the bathroom.

While I was putting on my finishing touches for the day I heard the front door open and close, followed by the sounds of breakfast in the kitchen. Caleb's only specialty was an omelet, and by the smells that wafted my way, I guessed that's what he was making.

"You're up early," I commented when I reached the kitchen, and saw Caleb cooking.

"Not really," he replied as he skillfully flipped the egg in the pan. "I wanted to stretch before we left, and we'll have to be out by eight-thirty to be at Dr. Cullen's house by nine-thirty."

"We're going to his house?" I asked surprised.

"Mhm," Caleb added the veggies and ham to the egg. "He set up a private practice a few years ago, and now he only takes specialty patients. His wife is a house designer and did a lot of renovations to turn the basement of their house into a physical therapy center."

"That's really cool." I said, honestly impressed. "Kids?" I took out the plates as Caleb divided the omelet in the pan.

"I think he said he adopted six," Caleb commented slowly. "You probably won't really see them, I think I've only seen one in passing. They are in college or grad school or something. A couple of English majors and Fashion Designers and one is in sports management or something like that. I don't really remember."

"Fair enough." I replied. "So we go out for physical therapy, and you said lunch in Forks?"

"There's a fun diner that you should eat at. And then we can walk through the town a bit. It's small, if you want to do any sort of real shopping you need to go to Port Angeles or Seattle, though I guess Olympia is closer than that."

"That sounds fine for today," I sighed and rubbed my knee. "I don't know what Dr. Cullen is going to suggest for rehab yet, so I'd like to figure that out first."

"I was thinking Leah might join us for lunch?" Caleb asked hesitantly. "I'd really like the two of you to get to know each other. She was thinking Embry might be free for the day too and could come."

I considered it. "I think that would be fun," I said slowly. "I'd like to get to know her, and Embry seemed nice enough last night. What was it with Jake and Quil making him leave the studio?"

"He's shy." Caleb evenly replied, looking down.

"Caleb." I waited until his eyes were back at mine. "If Leah wants me to believe that Embry is shy then I don't know her well enough to call her out on lying to me. You on the other hand I expect more from."

Caleb sighed. "You did startle him, more that you can imagine. But the rest of it is not my secret to tell. If you don't want me to lie to you then you need to stop asking questions, because that is all I can say for now."

"But he's safe to be around, right?" I asked, getting to the root of my qualms about him joining us for lunch. "I mean he was fine in the evening, but in the studio Quil, Jake, and Leah acted like he was about to launch himself at us."

"I honestly cannot think of a person you would be safer with," Caleb replied, looking me straight in the eyes.

I nodded. "Then he should come. I really enjoyed hanging out with him last night." Caleb smirked at that and I lightly hit him. "No match making. Just because you're so happy with Leah that words fail you when you talk about her, does not mean that you are allowed to make matches for the rest of us." Caleb smiled a little brighter when I mentioned Leah. I grabbed my empty plate and went to wash up at the sink. "I hope she didn't leave so early this morning because of me." I said as a parting shot.

That got my desired reaction – Caleb choked on his bite of omelet and blushed. "How did you know?" He gasped after he had swallowed.

"I didn't until just now." I replied laughing. "But I heard the front door close as I was leaving the shower. She can stay if it's ok with your granny."

"My granny loves her," Caleb muttered. "She had an early morning shift to run," he explained. "She'll meet up with us in Forks later."

"Fair enough. I'm going to go watch TV or something to ignore the fact that you get to stretch and I don't. Come get me when you're ready to go."

"You could fill out the paper work Dr. Cullen sent for you." Caleb's voice called from the dining room. "It's on the table by the TV. If you do it now you'll save time at the appointment."

I did the paperwork, and then remembered I had not checked my email since yesterday morning. I got my laptop and instantly found the message from my dad out in Boston. I sent him a long reply about the epic voyage of traveling to La Push, which I hoped would make him laugh. As I scrolled through the rest of my email, deleting the junk, I noticed a letter from my sister. Frowning I opened and read it.

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The ride to Dr. Cullen's home was pleasant. Caleb pointed out some beautiful views that I missed on the ride in. All too soon we were in Forks, and to my surprise we drove through it.

"Doesn't Dr. Cullen live in Forks?" I asked surprised.

"Outside it actually. He and his wife love privacy."

We turned onto a dirt road and started winding up a small hill. "I'm glad I have you here with me," I commented.

"It's a bit confusing the first time," Caleb agreed. "The house is going to appear on your side at the next turn."

The house did appear, and I stunned speechless by its beauty and size. "You said his wife was a house designer?" I asked when I caught my breath.

"Yep." Caleb laughed at my reaction.

"Wow," was all I could say.

We parked the car in the turn around and Caleb lent me his arm to climb the stairs. He rang the doorbell, and after a few seconds the door opened.

I blinked at the beautiful man standing before me who introduced himself as Dr. Cullen. "I remember you." I replied and then blushed at my lack of manners. "Sophie Weaver." I held my hand out for him to shake, which he did.

"I'm glad you remember me, Ms. Weaver," his voice was musical. "My wife and I loved your dancing, and we were honored to see you in Carmen."

"That's right," I smiled. "You said I danced with an almost inhuman grace, which might be the best compliment I have ever received."

"Shall we?" Dr. Cullen invited us in to a beautiful and elegant receiving room, and led us through to the back of the house.

"Caleb said your wife was a house designer?" I asked.

"Yes, she did most of the work you see here." Dr. Cullen held open a door that led into a gymnasium styled room.

"She is very talented." I replied with a smile.

"She is all that and more." Dr. Cullen laughed. "She wanted to meet you again so I said she might come by at the end of our session, if that is ok with you."

"I would be honored," I said honestly. "Now where do you want me?"

"Over on the exam table while I get Caleb set up."

I went and sat, observing how he put Caleb by a set of weights and gave him a sheet to work on.

"Now," Dr. Cullen said as he came over to me and accepted my paperwork. "What are your symptoms?"

I explained the ache in my knee on normal days, and the stabs of pain in my knee when I danced. I told about the x-rays done to determine that nothing was wrong with the bones, and the ultrasound done that revealed that something was wrong with the tendon. Unsurprisingly, and with my permission, Dr. Cullen placed weight just below my kneecap, which caused me to cry out in pain.

"Describe your normal exercise day to me." He said, taking notes.

As I did, I laughed to myself at how mundane my life sounded. People loved how glamorous the life of a ballerina sounded, but I always enjoyed impressing them with the reality of the four or five hours of dance a day I worked on my days off and the ten plus hours of dance during the heavy rehearsals.

"Have you tried any at home cures? Rest, ice, anti-inflammatory medicine?" He asked.

"Yes to all of the above, and they work but I need to solve the long term problem, not just deal with it short term. I have been resting and icing for almost a whole week now, limited walking and taking pain medicine when I need to travel long distances."

"Do they help with the short term?"

"Yes, but my knee almost always aches dully, even with all of the above. I can rest completely for another two weeks, but after that I really need to start training, at least doing strengthening exercises, or else I need to have a serious conversation with my ballet company."

Dr. Cullen nodded. "I think we can do a bit better than that," he commented absently, and finished writing his notes. "Ok. Here is what I think we should do. You are going to keep on the RICE plan – rest, ice, compression, elevation – for another week. But we are going to add a couple of things to that. I'm going to give you a patellar strap for those times when you need to walk for long distances, but I would try to use it as little as possible. It will take stress off your knee tendon, but redirect it to the sides of your knee, which can cause future problems. I honestly wouldn't mind you using a wheel chair or crutches for the next week, just to take all the weight off of the knee."

I winced. "Crutches if anything. I don't want to be beholden to anyone more than I have to be."

"Fair enough," Dr. Cullen replied chuckling. "I'll see if I have any your size when I get the patellar strap. Now, in exchange for not walking we're going to start exercises that strengthen the muscles around your knee that will help take the stress off when you use it again, as well as keeping your body in shape. Then in a week we'll start doing simple exercises with your knee specifically. If at the end of that week you are still in serious pain you and I will talk about your other options."

"Surgery." I sighed. Surgery would mean a year of pain and rehab and a possibly ruined career.

"I'll do everything I can to keep you away from that," Dr. Cullen promised.

"Thank you," I said fervently.

"You also might try swimming a bit this week. No more than a half hour at a time and if your knee hurts then stop. Avoid using strokes that really use your knee – I'd focus on the front crawl and not do any others."

"Front crawl." I recited. "I'll remember."

Dr. Cullen smiled. "I'll write all of this down for you. Let me show you your exercises first."

He led me over to the equipment and had me do basic lifting exercises with my quads and stretching with my calves. Periodically he went over to look at Caleb's progress. "Make sure you stretch every day," Dr. Cullen told me. "I feel like I will have to remind you to do this less than some of my other patients, but nothing will hurt you more than not being properly stretched first."

I nodded; I had seen the injuries from lack of proper stretches. "Could I do some of my ballet warm ups then?"

"As long as you do not work your knees," Dr. Cullen said. "I'm sure you're professional enough to know what that will mean."

"I am not going to screw around with my knee," I promised. "I can't afford to lose it."

"Good. Now I will go find your crutches and knee strap. Why don't you go sit back on the examination bed." He gave me a sheet that had all of the exercises that I had just done as well as how they could be converted to a house that had no work out machines in it. I read it through and then watched Caleb finish up his muscle exercises.

When Dr. Cullen came back he carried a pair of crutches, a strap, and a stunning woman held the door for him to enter through. "This is my wife, Mrs. Esme Cullen." He explained as he set the strap down and began adjust the crutches for my size.

"I'm very pleased to meet you," I said, gingerly sliding off the table.

"I have been looking forward seeing you again, ever since my husband said he was going to help your knee." She gently shook my hand and then gave a light hug. "I'm sure Carlisle has said so before, but you dance amazingly well."

"Thank you," I blushed. "I love what I do and that makes it easier."

"I hope you won't think me an over bearing wife, but truly you could not have found a better doctor. I'm sure we'll have you dancing again soon!"

"That would be amazing." I said wistfully, and then took the offered crutches. After a step or two, Dr. Cullen was satisfied with my competence.

"I can tell you've used these before," he commented and showed me how to use the strap around the base of my knee.

"At least once a year I've been on crutches for a twisted ankle. They usually heal better if you don't step on them at all. I've learned how to use crutches well and fast."

"All the better. You should be all set until your next visit. I'm assuming you would like to do three times a week, is that correct?"

"That would be preferable. When I start to do real dance again it might be more, and we might ask you to come to a rehearsal to observe anything I need to change with how I move."

"Understandable. Would Monday be acceptable for your next appointment?" Dr. Cullen asked Caleb and I.

We exchanged a glance. "I have no plans," I said. "Nor I," he added.

"Then Monday it is, same time?"

"Sounds good." Caleb answered.

"We're morning people at heart," I laughed.

"So are we," said Mrs. Cullen.

"Do you have any questions about your exercises?" Dr. Cullen asked me, and when I replied the negative he escorted Caleb and I back through his beautiful house. I complimented Mrs. Cullen on her beautiful work, and she ducked her head bashfully and thanked me generously. "We will see you in two days, on Monday at nine-thirty am. It was a pleasure to meet you," Dr. Cullen shook my hand. "Keep working on the exercises," he told Caleb, "you're looking much better though."

"Thank you, sir," Caleb shook his hand, and then helped me to his car. When we buckled, he turned on the car and took a deep breath. "So those are the Cullens. What do you think?"

"I think I like them. They are unfairly beautiful and gracefully, and their house is too perfect to be real, but I like them both."

"Can you text Leah to tell her we're done and ask when a good time for lunch would be?"

I typed and then sent it after I read back what I wrote. Leah's message came back almost instantly. "They are in Forks already and could eat now if you and I are ready," I read and glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven. "By the time we're seated and eating it will be after eleven so I could eat now," I decided. "You?"

"Now will be fine. We can explore the town afterwards and then go explore La Push if you like."

"That sounds perfect. Should they meet us at the diner?" I asked as I began typing back.

"The diner or Subway, your pick." Caleb said.

"The diner," I decided after a moment's thought and sent the message to Leah. "It'll be bad for us, but probably have more character than Subway."

We pulled up to Sully's Drive In, and found Embry and Leah sitting in a booth. Caleb instantly slid in next to Leah, and kissed her cheek before reaching for a menu. I, less gracefully, hobbled in next to Embry. He grabbed my arm to help me balance as I awkwardly sat and smiled at me.

"I have to thank you again." I smiled back. "Are you available to catch me for the next few weeks?"

"I'll see if I can clear some time," he replied seriously, though his eyes sparkled.

"Please do," I responded just as gravely, and took a menu. "What do you locals order here?"

"Everything," Leah, Embry and Caleb said in unison, surprising me. I looked from face to face, trying to determine if they were joking.

I turned to Embry and tried to specify my question, "If you had to choose one thing to order from this menu what would it be?"

"Bad choice," Caleb laughed.

"How so?" I asked, Embry perused the menu with more focus than my light question deserved.

"Because Embry is used to ordering for himself, not for some one as small as you." Leah replied.

"I am not that small." I protested. "I am five-six thank you kindly. I'm almost too tall to be a ballerina, actually."

"Yes, but you barely weight anything, Soph." Caleb pointed out. "And I should know. I have to lift you."

"Get the Tall Timber Burger." Embry said softly, ending their comments.

"Tall Timber Burger…" I repeated as I searched for it on the menu. I read the description: double patty, double cheese, toppings and special sauce. "Embry…" I trailed off, unsure how to tell him that it sounded like more than I could realistically eat.

"Trust me," he smiled again. "The special sauce is better than on the other burgers, and I will eat what ever you can't."

"You are turning out to be a handy guy to have around." I told him as I refolded my menu. "Alright, you've sold me on the burger. What's everyone else getting? And don't say 'everything.'" I begged as the three of them opened their mouths to respond.

"You catch on quick," Leah laughed. "I'll give you that. I think you'll do."

"You are too gracious." I responded, as the waitress came up and took our orders. Caleb got a single burger, and while Leah and Embry didn't quite get everything, they certainly got the largest burgers on menus and a couple of sides.

"How do you plan to eat all that after all the food we had last night?" I gasped as the waitress walked away.

"Fast metabolisms," Leah growled and hugged Caleb's arm possessively. The waitress had been just a little too friendly to him, who was woefully oblivious to life as usual. Leah had noticed, and now she reminded me of a dog with its hackles up.

"Some people have all the luck," I sighed, regretfully.

"What do you mean?" Embry asked cautiously.

"Well look at her," I gestured, and the two boys obliged. "She is beautiful, confident, articulate, dating a great guy _and_ she has a fast metabolism. That's pretty lucky in my books."

"I guess I am lucky," Leah replied slightly stunned, as if the thought had never occurred to her before.

"I know I am," Caleb reassured her, and she smiled, squeezing his hand a little bit.

I laughed a little and turned back to Embry who was staring at me intently. "What?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I was just thinking," he replied softly. "Well, wondering, how much of what you just described could be applied to you."

"Hmm…" I pretended to consider. "I do not have a fast metabolism." I joked, and he smiled. "Unless I'm dancing all hours of the day, then I feel like I burn through food too quickly. I am considered beautiful for ballet, and poised on stage, but people have mixed feelings about me off stage. I could be described as articulate, but I communicate best through dance some times, at least dance helps me to think about what I want to say. I am not dating any guy, _and_ I've still got to watch what I eat, so I think Leah wins the lucky award of the two of us."

The waitress came with our food, and I almost lost my appetite looking at the massive burger that was on my plate, sided by a pile of fries. Embry noticed my frown and asked if I was unhappy with my food, which caused the waitress to pause before leaving.

"No," I reassured him. "There is just so much of it – could I have an extra plate?" I asked the waitress before she left, and she promised to bring it right over. "I'll feel better if I don't have to look at so much food while I eat." I explained and started to pick at my fries.

When I got my plate I cut out a rough third of the burger and pulled a handful of fries onto my plate. "Much better." I said, and turned to Embry, "But you can't eat the rest of my burger until I've decided that's all I want." I narrowed my eyes and tried to look menacing.

Embry solemnly crossed his heart and went back to eating his burger, while watching me eat mine. It was delicious as he promised, though I couldn't manage more than what was on the spare plate, to Embry's delight.

Caleb flagged the waitress, who gave us four separate checks as we requested. I put my hand on Embry's, stopping him as he tried to take his.

"Could I pay yours?" I asked him. "I'd still like to make you dinner some time, but could I also pay now to say thank you for the studio?"

Embry hesitated. "If you like," he said slowly. "Just as long as I can pay next time."

"Deal," I promised, and handed the waitress money for the two of us, noticing Caleb paid for Leah too.

"Shall we walk?" Caleb asked as he slid out of the booth. "Or hobble in your case," he teased as I put myself back on crutches.

"It's better than the wheelchair." I grumbled, as I limped to the door.

"Dr. Cullen wanted to put you in a wheelchair?" Embry gave me a look of concern as he held the door for me.

"Thank you," I walked out. "He did, but I much prefer crutches. I can be a bit more self-sustained than in a wheelchair. And he gave me the choice between, so I think crutches will suffice for now."

We walked down Forks Ave, stopping now and then for various stores. To my delight my companions humored me enough to stop in the Forks Library, which made my English Major self light up with joy. I decided Embry would have to be my new best friend as he knew good food, made me a ballet studio, and had a Forks Library card, which he promised I could use. The next stop was to the Olympic Sporting Goods, which I enjoyed as I found outdoor chairs to sit in as Leah, Embry and, to my surprise, Caleb browsed. The people working the store seemed to know Leah and Embry fairly well, and one started talking about new supplies that had just come in.

As their conversation was ending, a new group of clientele came in, which called for the clerk's assistance. "Ready to go?" Embry asked, as he walked to where I was sitting.

"Only if you guys are." I smiled. "I never thought I would see the day when Caleb would willingly look at sport equipment – unless you count ballet as a sport."

"It should be a sport." Caleb grumbled as he and Leah also drew near. "I don't see baseball players having to lift a hundred pounds over their head, and people call that a sport."

I gathered my crutches and pushed out from the chair. "You should lodge a complaint. I'm sure it would go over well," I smiled my sweetest and Caleb tried to glare in response.

"Watch it gimpy." He threatened. "I know where you sleep at night."

Embry watched me carefully limp to the door, which he opened for me. "Would you like to go home?" He asked. "There really isn't that much more to see – a flower shop up that way, a couple of cafes, an RV Park, a multipurpose store…" Embry trailed off. "But all that is a bit of a walk, and it's actually a nice day to go to the beach."

I looked at Caleb who told me it was my choice. "The beach sounds nice." I said slowly. "Dr. Cullen did tell me to try to swim for a half hour a day."

"Then let's head back," Embry decided, and we started walking back the way we came.

"Where did you park your car?" I asked Embry, who froze for a second.

"We were dropped off," Leah answered smoothly. "We were hoping to ride back with you." She then asked Caleb what he thought about rock climbing later on that week. I half listened to them as I walked along side Embry, enjoying the view of the small town.

My arms were burning by the time we got back to the car – proof that I was using the crutches correctly and that my muscles hated me for it. "Maybe the wheelchair would've been a good idea," I muttered as I buckled. Embry, who was holding the door for me, heard and asked if we should stop back at the Cullen's before we left Forks.

"I'm just being lazy," I reassured him and Caleb, who hesitated before starting the car to hear my answer. "I don't need a wheelchair."

"Let's go to the beach then!" Caleb exclaimed, and then nudged me chanting "Beach, beach, beach."

"I swear Caleb, as much as I love you, as good of a dancer as you are, I am about to bludgeon you with my crutches." I threatened, laughing.

"You weren't showing the proper excitement for the beach. I had no choice," Caleb protested as he backed the car out of its spot. "Am I right?" He asked the back passengers.

Leah was silently laughing, and Embry shook his head. "Was he always like this?" Embry asked.

"He was sillier in college. The real world beat some of it out of him. Not too much, but just enough to make him almost tolerable." I replied solemnly, earning me another nudge from Caleb as we traveled along the road to La Push.

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A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed it so far. We'll be back at the end of May with the next chapter.


	4. de Côté

A/N: I am not Ms. Meyer. I am not receiving, nor do I want money from this story. This is just for fun.

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**de Côté - **a step sideways

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_Sophie_

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The beach was beautiful. It was all that they had promised and more. The water was a touch cold, but I found that if I kept moving it felt pleasant. After estimating that I had swum for a half hour I floated on my back. Caleb and Leah had been in and out of the water during the half hour I had was swimming, and then decided to take a stroll down to the rocks they were interested in rock climbing later on.

As I watched them go a shadow fell across me, and I looked up at Embry who stood in the water next to me. "Do you know the time?" I asked, standing up.

"It's about 3:30," he replied. "You've been in for almost forty minutes."

"Which would explain why I'm starting to get prune-y," I noted, looking at my fingers. "This water is almost too nice to leave though." I floated again.

"The water will still be here tomorrow, and the next day, and I believe I can guarantee it will be here the day after that."

"Well, as long as I have until Tuesday to enjoy the water I'll get out now." I walked back to shore, which became increasingly painful on my knee it supported more and more of my body weight. At my first hiss of pain and frustration, Embry reached over to support me.

"Would it be ok to carry you again?" He asked nervously. When I softly agreed, he scooped me up as if I weighed nothing, and brought me over to the towels. I awkwardly perched on one leg as I dried off and then spread the towel out to lie on. Embry helped me with my towel and then laid out his own towel next to mine.

"Do you have any siblings?" I asked abruptly, the email from my sister was suddenly on my mind.

"No," Embry sighed. "Other than the guys who I work with – Jake, Quil, Seth and such, I have no siblings."

"I have one. My sister is six years older than me, and I haven't seen her in over fifteen years." Embry looked over at me, surprised, and I continued in a melodramatic voice. "I suppose I could regale you with a tragic story of a talented young ballerina, whose mother used to wake her up in the middle of the night to practice ballet for a few hours before she let the six year old fall back asleep…" Embry flinched, but didn't interrupt, which I appreciated. In a more serious vein, I added, "When I was ten dad found out. He filed for divorce the next day, and won the custody battle over me. My sister was sixteen and she was given a choice since she was almost an adult. She chose my mom, and my mom cut the both of them out of my dad's and my life." I paused. "When I was eleven I was invited to join the Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program, and when I was up there, my dad spoke to the Ballet Company and relocated us so that I could attend their classes full time. He's in Pharmaceuticals, making medicines, so his company was able to transfer him to Boston easily. I haven't seen or heard from my sister since we moved, until today when she sent me an email. I have no idea how she even got my email address…" I trailed off and looked over at Embry who was still staring at me intently. "I'm sorry, I talk too much." I apologized.

"No." He replied firmly. "I was just realizing that not having siblings might be ok too."

I laughed. "We were never that close, so it's not like I lost much when she and mom left. My dad missed her for a long time, but she was always closer to my mother. I don't know what she wants," I added softly to myself.

"Maybe she regrets not knowing you now, and wants to make amends?" Embry tried to look for the good side.

"I'm so much warier now than I was before about people who want to use me for their own gain. My mother was just the first example. I've had boyfriends, dance partners, dance coaches and companies want me with out thinking if what they're asking is healthy for me, or if it's what I want. I can't ignore the suspicion that my sister is acting in the same way."

"Why do you dance then?" Embry was curious. "It sounds miserable."

"Parts of it can be." I agreed, and then thought about it. "I dance because when I wake up in the morning, I cannot think of anything that I would rather be doing."

"Nothing?" Embry asked, surprised.

"Well, this whole lying on a beach thing might take a close second." I joked. "But in all seriousness, I sometimes think that dance might be more vital to me than air. Does that make sense?"

Embry nodded slowly. "There are… things in my life that I could describe similarly."

"Of course!" I beamed at him remembering, "You are also an artist – with your carvings. You know what I mean then."

"Oh, yes – the carvings." Embry agreed readily, and then seemed to be at a loss for what to say after that.

_He really is shy._ I thought sympathetically.

"How long have you lived on the reservation?" I asked, hoping he was comfortable talking about his home.

"Mom moved us down here about twenty years ago." Embry frowned.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," I told him gently. "I was just making conversation."

"Maybe some other time." Embry seemed relieved. "We can trade family ghost stories, but not on a beautiful day on the beach."

"Fair enough. What do you do for fun then?"

"Run." Embry's eyes lit up. "And cliff dive."

"A big thrill seeker then?" I teased.

"Not entirely. I do enjoy reading and watching tv. But I'm only going to be able to run like this and cliff dive for so long, and I am determined to enjoy them while I can."

"That makes sense. It's a shame our bodies can't stay eternally young – that we cannot do the things we love forever. You have a time limit on your thrill seeking – I have a time limit on my dancing."

"Would you want to stay young forever?" Embry asked seriously. "Never changing, never growing, frozen?"

I considered. "I'd like to be able to stay twenty-eight for a long time, and to get my fill of dancing before age pushes me on. But I do not think I'd like to stay so forever. Eternity is too long for me."

Embry relaxed a bit. "You're twenty eight?" He asked, surmising my age from my statement.

"Almost. I'm an August baby – born with the sun as my dad said. What about you?"

"I am twenty eight, but only just actually. My birthday was a couple of days ago."

"Happy Belated Birthday!" I exclaimed. "Did you do anything fun?"

"We don't really do birthdays any more," Embry explained. "It seems unnecessary."

"How could birthdays be unnecessary?" I asked surprised. "Granted, I don't do much for my birthday, but at least my dad and I celebrate it. Did you get a cake?"

"Not really. The guys all wished me happy birthday, and we ran for a bit. That was fun."

I considered. "Today is Saturday, right?" I tried to get my bearings on the days. "I really do not want to travel back to the stores in Forks – are there any here in La Push?"

"Not really. There's not much here."

"That's fine." I reassured him. "I'll tell you what. Let's head back to Caleb's house and see what he has for cake makings."

"Why?"

"Because I am going to bake you a birthday cake." I declared.

"You really don't have to," He began.

"I know I don't." I interrupted. "But I like to bake, and I can't if it's just for Caleb and me. Whatever I make ends up going stale before we get around to eating it all."

Embry smiled, and I was taken aback by how his smile lit up his whole face. "I would like that then. Thank you," he said, and I blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear the brilliance out my eyes.

"You're welcome." I replied, at a loss for other words.

"So what is your favorite book?" Embry asked after a brief pause.

"You're seriously going to ask an English Literature Major what her favorite book is?"

"Why not? You'd probably have the best answer."

"I couldn't choose one – it'd be like choosing one best friend to hang out with for the rest of your life. You'd love it at first, and then hate it, and then grow indifferent, which is even worse than hate!"

Embry held his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine," he soothed. "Top ten then."

"But even that is hard – it's easier to list authors, or categories."

"Top ten authors – if you could only read ten authors for the rest of your life who would they be?"

"Milton, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Kipling, oh dear, but those are all English authors. I'd only have two other names to chose for more diverse books, but I'm torn between some more modern American writers, and people who have revolutionized their field – like J. K. Rowling."

Embry cleared his throat. "I think I've heard of all of them." He said slowly.

"Don't even pretend to act like I'm more cultured or smarter than you, Mr. Civil Engineering. I've met Engineers – I know what kind of work you do."

"Touché," he conceded. "I am impressed with your list though, not many people like Kipling."

"He's incredibly racist, in a way," I stated blatantly. "But I loved "Riki Tiki Tavi" when I was younger, and his "Just So Stories" – my father would read them to me until I fell asleep each night. Those and A. A. Milne – who also would have to go on the list. And Lousia May Alcott. Could we make the list out of twenty?"

Embry laugh, and I joined in. "So I guess I shouldn't ask you about your favorite ballet then, correct?"

"The list is longer." I promised. "As is my list of favorite composers, though I have to say the Romantic era was where the best ballet music was composed." At Embry's blank stare I added, "Tchaikovsky? Stravinsky?" He continued to look blank, and I sighed. "You have heard of the Nutcracker Ballet, yes?"

"I've seen it!" He declared proudly. "They perform it annually in Seattle – though it might not have been the major ballet company there."

"They perform it annually almost every where," I sighed. "And it was poor Tchaikovsky's least favorite ballet too. He wrote it," I explained, incase Embry hadn't caught on to that. "It sure shows that the less plot there is, and the more flashy the dances are, the more audience members will come."

"Do you not like the Nutcracker?" Embry asked disappointed.

"I love it. I was one of the Claras for Boston Ballet one of my first seasons with their youth program. It's wonderful music, and the dancing can be amazing. But it is not the be all and end all of ballet, which people treat it as."

"I'd love to see you dance."

"I'd love to see me dance, too," I agreed, looking at my knee. "I'll see if Caleb has any videos of us dancing. I'm sure he does, he's as vain as a peacock with his performances."

We heard Leah and Caleb coming back towards us down the beach. "Well speak of the devil," I murmured with a small smile. They both had sand in their hair, and slightly foolish expressions on their faces.

"Should we give them a hard time?" Embry asked with a small, knowing smile. I grinned back at him.

"Perhaps, but only subtlety." I winked at him, and he laughed.

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Caleb had a ton of videos of the two of us dancing as it turned out, and even more of just himself dancing. He argued that they were his Grandma's, and that he certainly would not keep videos of his first dance recital, which we watched first and laughed until we cried at the ten year old boys looking so clueless on stage.

We then put on some our more recent productions – Caleb had a nice recording of Carmen, which was fun to relive. As we watched, Caleb and I gave the blow by blow of the behind the scenes drama to the amusement and horror of Embry and Leah.

At intermission I went to the kitchen to start making dinner. After looking through each of the cabinets and the pantry, I found that we had pasta makings, but not much else. Caleb's Grandma had well stocked backing supplies, which Caleb had not touched as he was not a baker.

"You had better at least left me eggs!" I threatened from the kitchen and heard Caleb laugh.

"Or what?" He called my bluff.

"Embry doesn't get his cake."

Caleb laughed again. "There are more than enough eggs in the fridge, which you would see if you hobbled over there and checked."

True enough, there was a whole carton of eggs left in the fridge. "Does anyone know if we have to alter a cake recipe for high altitude? Are we at a high altitude?" No one answered.

"How would we find that out?" Leah asked.

"Would some one bring me my laptop so I can check?" I called back, and only a few seconds later Embry came in with my computer in his hands. A quick google search showed that we were still at sea level, so my cake recipe from Boston would still work in La Push.

"Thank you," I said, closing my computer and handing it back to Embry.

He took it, and hesitated. "Could I stay and help you?" He asked cautiously.

"Of course." I was surprised. "Did you not want to see how Carmen ends?"

"I'd rather help you. There is no need for you to cook for all of us by your self, and then we could watch the end some other time."

"Fair enough. Do you know how to cook?" I asked as I cleared space on the counter.

"I know the basics, I'm able to survive off of my cooking."

"That's good to know." I laughed, and he smiled. "Could you chop some onion and mushroom? I found just enough to add to the sauce. Unfortunately we're not going to have any meat in it – I didn't know that we needed any groceries this morning."

"I'm sure it will taste good," Embry said quickly. "What are you going to work on while I chop?" He asked as he began washing the onion and mushrooms.

"I'm making your cake of course. Is chocolate with mocha frosting all right?"

Embry paused mid slice. "I can't remember the last time some one made me a cake. Yes, it more than all right. You really don't have to make it though."

"Oh yes I do! You have a library card and you've promised to be my new best friend. This is what friends do for each other! Except please don't make me any food, unless you want to eat most of it." I measured the flour, baking soda and salt, and then moved on to the sugars.

"I'll bear that in mind. Thank you," he caught my hand as I pulled out a second bowl and got the butter I had left to warm on the counter.

"You're welcome!" I smiled brightly. "But don't thank me until you've eaten it. It might go wrong yet."

"I'll love it no matter what."

"Be careful what you wish for! I might make it go wrong on purpose to see what you do if that happens."

"You are much too kind to do that." Embry smiled brightly, teasing back.

"Perhaps," I laughed. "But only just."

He finished chopping the vegetables and started frying them when I moved to put water in a pot to boil for the pasta and some how ended up colliding with him as we tried to side step each other. Some how, Embry was able to hold and balance the water and catch me before I fell.

"Are you ok?" He asked, extremely concerned, and he put the water down on the counter to support me with both hands.

"Fine, fine," I tried to wave away inconsequence of running into him, when I noticed how close we were for the first time, and how tightly Embry held my arms – as if he were trying to keep me from all harm. I looked up, and met his gaze directly. _This feels right_ I thought as Embry's face changed from concern to something more elusive. "I – I should finish the cake." I backed down, embarrassed of my thoughts, which were not how a new friend should think of another. Embry let me go reluctantly, and I felt colder as I returned to making the cake. _You cannot afford to have a summer fling_ I reminded myself. _Leave Embry alone and work on healing your knee._

I was so focused on making the cake that I jumped when Embry tapped my shoulder. Instantly he steadied me, and I tried not to think about how nice it was to be confident that he would always catch me. "You were really focused making that cake," he let me go quickly and moved back to the pasta. "I was wondering when you started cooking." He was suddenly shy again, and I felt bad. It wasn't his fault that I was enjoying his presence a little too much.  
"My dad would work late, and after a few weeks of continual Chinese food he hired a sitter to watch over me and make our dinners. She taught me to cook, and when I was thirteen I started cooking our meals when I wasn't at a late practice. My dad gave up so much for me, it was nice to be able to return the favor a little." I gestured to the ease that Embry had around the stove. "You are a good cook too. When did you learn?"

Embry swallowed hard. "My mom's been sick for the past couple of years, so I've taken lessons from Emily and Kim to help care for her. They are such kind people – they were willing to cook for her all the time, and they do give us meals occasionally, but Emily has a family to look after and Kim wants to start one soon, so I couldn't encroach on them too much."

I waited until he met my eyes again, and then told him "You are seriously one of the most impressive people I know. Not everyone would take such good care of a parent."

Embry blushed and looked down again. "It's family." He explained.

"I know," I smiled. "Could you open up the oven door for me? The cake is ready to go in."

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think so far! Next chapter will be up beginning of July!


	5. Petit

A/N: I am not Ms. Meyer. I do not want and am not getting money for this story.

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_Petit_ \- little. This chapter is very short because it was actually meant to be the end of the last chapter.

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_Sophie_

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"Alright, admit it." Caleb made me look at him instead of the potatoes I was chopping for dinner. "You like him."

After my second session with Dr. Cullen, Caleb and I drove through Forks and found a small local farm where we bought enough vegetables for the week, though Caleb reassured me that they wouldn't last long since we invited both Leah and Embry to dinner.

"I like who?" I asked, but my blush gave me away.

"You like Embry, don't you?" Caleb gleefully teased.

"Yes, I do. Now may I continue cooking?"

"So are you going to tell him?" Caleb was persistent.

"Am I going to tell Embry that I like him? Why would I?" I was honestly confused. "What good would that do?"

"Sophie, the guy is falling over himself for you. How can you ask what good it would do him to let him know he was successful?"

"Let me rephrase the question – what good would it do me to let him know?" Caleb frowned. "I know you've fallen in love with Leah, but has that made you forget that we are here on borrowed time? We leave in a month and two weeks to start training for Cinderella, God willing I can dance by then. What good would it do me – or either of us – to have a summer fling?"

"I haven't forgotten," Caleb said seriously. "Even this borrowed time would be better than nothing though."

"See, I'm not so sure. I'd rather leave with my heart intact, and that means that I am not going to put down any more attachments to this place than I need to. I don't need anyone else to play games with me." I thought of the second letter I had received from my sister and pushed the knife through the potato with more force than I needed.

"But you do like him." Caleb persisted.

"Of course I do," I responded. "What's not to like? Except for the fact that I've only known him for four days and we literally live on opposite sides of the country, what's not to love?" I paused. "What are you and Leah planning on doing?"

Caleb's mouth twisted. "We haven't figured that out yet." He replied slowly.

"So until you come up with the master plan of how you'll be in two places at once, back off." I looked him in the eyes, serious. "I don't know what matchmaking schemes you have had in play, but since day one you've been pushing Embry and me together and I've had enough. It is not fair to either of us and I won't have it."

"He likes you."

"What does that matter?" I snapped. "He's known me for four days. I'm leaving in forty-five."

"You are being negative, which is unlike you."

"I'm having perspective, which is very much like I always am. I am not going to give up my dreams for another four years at least. Yes I like him, but I live in Boston. He lives here. Neither of those facts are going to change, so as far as I'm concerned I will cut my losses now."

There was a knock at the door and Caleb's Grandma called out for him to get it. I gave him a speaking glance and then hobbled over to the oven to put the potatoes in as he left to greet Leah and Embry.

"It smells good!" Embry exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen. "What are we having?"

"Grilled chicken with lots of vegetables." I smiled up at him as I washed my hands. "Caleb and I found a nice farm stand out in Forks and we bought it out. The woman didn't believe that we were only cooking for five people, she thought we were having a party!"

Embry laughed. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked and washed his hands.

"Yes, we need to go in the back to start the chicken grilling, can you grab it and the basting sauce?" I got my crutches and led the way.

My knee was feeling better, but I was not letting myself hope yet. There still was a long way to go, and I could tell that Dr. Cullen was hesitant about me starting to train next week. I was still on crutches, and doing all I could to strengthen the muscles around the knee, but I felt like it wasn't enough.

Embry noticed my frustration and sympathetically listened as I told him how afraid I was of not being able to dance for a year.

"I'll lose everything that I've gained in the past two years. I can't bear the thought of having to quit so early – everything I've worked for and dreamed of is slipping away."

"But it might not," Embry reminded me. "Dr. Cullen is not giving up on you, and you shouldn't give up on him. If anyone can fix your knee it would be him and he's an amazing doctor."

"You've met him?" I was curious, it sounded like everyone here was a patient of Dr. Cullen's by the way they talked about him. "Do you go to him too?"

"Only for emergencies." Embry's face was uncharacteristically somber and he unconsciously flexed his right shoulder.

"Emergencies from what?"

Embry hesitated. "Our job…" he picked his words carefully, "can be very dangerous some times. It's why only a handful of us do it and why people retire so soon."

"Dangerous?" I was surprised. Surely there couldn't be many things that could harm some one as big and strong and… well… fit as Embry and the rest of the group seemed to be.

He laughed when I told him so, and then sobered. "We _have_ to stay fit so that we can keep up with our jobs. We're only as strong as the weakest person in our group, and no one wants to be the reason why we fail."

I reopened the grill and flipped the chicken while I waited for him to tell me more. He watched me with extreme care as if he wanted to take the grill tongs from me and do it himself. When he noticed my expectant expression, Embry sighed. "It's just border patrols, but instead of looking for people we look for dangerous… creatures that could cause trouble."

"Like wolves and bears?" I guessed.

"Bears can be a problem and mountain lions, but wolves are the best creatures we have here. You should always feel safe if a wolf is near."

"And this is because the wolves still recognize our kinship? They feel we are still a part of their pack?" I asked slyly and then laughed at his amazed expression. "My daddy told me the stories my grandma told him. I may not look it, but I know the legends of our tribe Embry Call."

"Then how can you pretend not to know what my job is Sophie Weaver?" He demanded incredulously, and laughed in exchange at my expression. "So you do not know every part of the story! Or perhaps our memory is not as good as we like to pretend!"

"There is no need to make fun," I murmured and struggled with the grill lid.

To my surprise he took the burning hot lid from my hands with out any protection and put it back safely on the grill. "I was not making fun," he replied seriously. "You caught me off guard by telling me you know our secrets, and I thought you were playing games with me, which hurt more than I can explain right now. I'm glad to know that there are some secrets that I can still tell you, especially since I wanted to invite you to a bonfire a week from Friday."

"A bonfire?" I was intrigued.

"It's to welcome you to La Push and to remind you of all those stories you heard once upon a time." He smiled brightly.

"Do you do this for all your visitors?" I asked, and tried to ignore the tingles I got when he smiled at me.

"No, this is because you are special to… well… to all of us."

And there it was in his eyes. This was the time to tell him that I couldn't care for him as more than a friend, and that we had only known each other for four days or less and that what ever imagined emotion he felt for me would leave us both with heart aches at the end of the summer, but I couldn't find those words. Instead I agreed to go to the bonfire. _Stupid_ I told myself. _It's going to hurt so much more in the end._

_But why does it have to end?_ I responded to the thought. _Caleb and Leah are going to find a way to make it work. Embry and I could too…_ And I let the thought trail off. There was no "Embry and I," nor would there ever be. No matter what Caleb told me Embry felt, there was just no way that he would be _that_ interested in me after four days, and there was no way I would be comfortable believing he was interested enough to do something long distance after six weeks. And that was all that I would be able to offer him.

As if he could read my thoughts, Embry chose a different topic. "Favorite class in college?" He asked.

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A/n: Thanks for reading so far! This was actually supposed to go in the last chapter, but I forgot to add it in. I figured I'd post it now, and then post the next chapter at the end of the month. See you then!

Let me know if you have comments, questions, or concerns! (Hopefully none of the last category.)


	6. Avant

A/N: I am not Ms. Meyers. I'm just borrowing her characters for fun, not for money or profit.

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**Avant -** to take a step forwards towards your audience.

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_Embry_

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She was like sunshine. Clear, beautiful, and warm. I could tell I drove my pack mates crazy as my thoughts ran circles around her, but I didn't care. How many _years_ now had I heard all of their thoughts about their imprints, their dramas, their ups and downs. Always, always, always I had been left out. It started to become depressing when the new wolves – or the beta team as we jokingly called them – started to imprint.

I was twenty-five when the first one had looked up into the eyes of a new waitress at Sully's and… well… gravity moves.

Leah and I had gone on a long, long, long run that night. We didn't quite hit the Arctic Circle, but we were close. _What's wrong with me!_ I could still hear her howl in my mind, the sediment reverberated in my body. She and I were the only ones from the Alpha team who were un-imprinted. Single. Alone.

Then Caleb came. That night I did hit the Arctic Circle, and stopped when I couldn't run anymore. With a huff, I threw myself down in the snow, sending up a white cloud that settled in cold ice on my fur.

_What's wrong with me? _I whispered, alone in my thoughts. For a while I lay there, enjoying how at last my body felt as numb as my mind. Before I froze I got up and shook the snow from my fur. Slowly I started to walk back.

_What would I do?_ I kept asking myself. I refused to be pitied, but I felt that was all anyone thought when they saw me. Poor Embry. No father, mother's sick, all alone. I wanted to run and not stop, but I also wanted to lie down and not move. _What would I do?_ Should I stop phasing with the rest of my pack mates? Sam was gone, Seth, Quil, and Jared only had a few more years before they would want to stop. Now Leah was contemplating going "cold turkey" as we called it so she could travel in a few months to be with Caleb in Boston. _Do I stop phasing when they do or do I stay the lone wolf from older days?_

I was within hearing distance because I could hear Jacob's response. _You will never be alone. I have to keep phasing forever, you will stay with me. _It wasn't a command, but I heard his loneliness as he imagined a world with out all of his brothers in it. _The Cullens are ready to adopt you, anyways._

_You are never alone_. I responded, turning the picture to how his face looked when Nessie was near him. Picture after picture popped into mind – how well he oddly fit in with the Cullens. _I am alone._ I showed my mom's drained, sick expression. The tearful day when she lost her hair. The emptiness that was now in the house with none of her silly songs and busy hands.

Jacob winced mentally. _It will come. _He promised. _It's come for all the rest of us, it will come for you._

_Ten dollars says you're wrong._ I foolishly betted.

_Deal_. I heard his mental grin.

I didn't mind owing Jacob the ten dollars. Never in my whole life had I ever been so glad to be wrong.

Finally I understood – truly understood – the fear my brothers went through daily. It felt as if my well-being was entirely wrapped up in her, and I could not bear to think of anything happening to her. I wanted to protect her. I wanted her knee to stop hurting her. I wanted her to like me, to want to hang out with me.

And now I wanted her to love me, as much as I loved her.

It was not love at first sight. That happened later.

All right, so it was only four days later, but it was still not as instantaneous as I thought it would be. We were standing out by the grill and I was trying not to take over and do everything for her. Especially not those things that could result in her harm like handling the hot grill top.

The words were on my lips to ask her to the bonfire, to begin to let her in to my life, when she joked about how we still believe wolves are our common ancestor. I felt sick to my stomach. Did she know about our phasing already? How could she pretend ignorance about something so important to me? Did the bond only work on me, and not affect her at all? Was she playing with my affections?

I realized then that I wanted her to know everything about me. I wanted her to be the one who I went to when my mom was sick, or when I needed to share a funny story from patrol. I loved her then.

As sick as my mom was, she was as astute as ever. I went home that night, and it took her all of a minute to see that something was different.

"Who is she?" her voice still gentle, even after all she had been through.

"Ah, mom!" I pretended to raise a fuss, as I would have ten years ago. "You know everything."

"Not the girl's name." My mom pressed. "Is it a girl from La Push? Forks?"

"She's… not exactly from here." I said slowly. It was difficult to talk about where she was from. Too soon she would leave and go back, and I could not ask her to stay. I would not ask.

"Up state then? Seattle? Did you meet her at college?" My mom's gentle pull on my arm forced me to sit next to her. Deliberately I slouched to provoke a reaction. There were the eyebrows raised in a silent warning, and grinning I sat up.

"The day you stop glaring is the day I know we're really in trouble." I teased her.

"The day you think I'm so easily sidetracked is the day I check _you_ into a care facility." My mom laughed back, but waited pointedly for an answer.

"Sophie doesn't live here at all. She's from Boston."

"Boston." My mom repeated, surprised. "As in the one in Massachusetts?"

"Are there any other 'Boston's' in the world?" I asked. "Don't answer," I added as I saw her open her mouth to reply. It would be the kind of trivia my mom would know. "Yes, the one in MA."

"How… have you been running across country again?" Mom began to scold. "I thought I told you to tell me before you do something so reckless again."

"Mom, it was one race. And no one was seriously hurt."

"Your feet were red for a week, I swear."

My feet were red for an hour at most – the gift of werewolf healing. The curse, of course, was that you couldn't give your powers to the ones you loved.

"We both know that's not true, and that's not what happened. She… she dances, you see, and she injured herself. Caleb – Leah's Caleb – is her friend and dance partner. Since he was here being healed she figured she'd try and see if Carlisle could fix her too."

"And can he?"

"Of course he can! At least I think he can. She said her knee felt stronger, which is good."

My mom waited.

"She's going to leave in a month, mom." I said despairingly. "A month! And she _has_ to. She made a promise – signed a contract actually – with the Boston Ballet. She…" I couldn't continue, and put my head in my hands. I heard my mom slide over on the couch and gently rub circles on my back, the way she did when I was little.

"You imprinted on her." My mom stated, and I nodded. "And you can't change that."

That brought my head out from my hands. "I wouldn't want to change it, if I could!" I exclaimed. "She is everything! She is beyond description! Her dancing – mom, I have to see if I can borrow one of Caleb's tapes. It is truly magical to watch her on the stage."

"I would like that." She commented slowly. "I would also like to meet this woman. Bring her over for dinner some time, soon. You may have imprinted, but I still get to pass approval."

"I don't think that's how imprinting works, mom."

"Maybe not, but I still need to pass approval. When are you going to see her next?"

"Tomorrow she is having dinner with everyone at Sam's. Emily is just as excited to get to know her as you are, I think."

"Emily and I share a common interest in looking out for you. Bring her over one day this weekend. I can cook dinner. What does she like to eat?"

"Mom, you know I can make dinner, it is no problem."

"Embry." Her voice made me look her directly in the eyes. "The cancer hasn't won yet. I am sick, not dead, not dying. You need to stop mothering me, and let me make your girlfriend dinner."

"She's not my girlfriend. We're not even friends yet. I mean, we're becoming friends, but I've only known her for a half a week."

"Do you love her?"

"I do. More than anything, as crazy as it sounds, as impossible as it is, I do."

"And she's your soul mate, as imprinting proved, so everything else will work out. Bring her over for dinner so I can start to know her."

"She'll probably want to cook for you, too. I kinda mentioned you're not well." I added sheepishly. Mom didn't like being treated like an invalid.

"She'll get over it. I am cooking. Perhaps some chicken, and potatoes." Her eyes were staring off into space. "I'll ask Emily to pick some up, she usually does her grocery run on Saturdays, and so everything should be fresh." She smiled as her plans fell into place.

"Speaking of dinner, I had some with Sophie," I said, trying not to blush and failing miserably as my mom gave a knowing look. "But I'm still a little hungry around the corners."

"Surprising." My mom murmured sarcastically.

"How do you feel about some dinner? I have a feeling you haven't eaten much today."

"Chemo does weird things to you body. What can I say?" My mom shrugged, unconcerned.

"Soup it is." I always had some of her favorite soup stashed in the freezer for nights like this. "I'll heat some up for the two of us."

"Mmm… that sounds lovely."

"If you're feeling up to it, we could play a game, or read later on."

"I may listen to a book on tape and try to drift off." Mom confessed. "But thank you for the thought."

"Let me know when you are through with that one, I have a stack piling up on itunes for you to read next." I commented as I walked into the kitchen. Under her breath I head her mutter that she was not going to be sick for forever.

I defrosted the soup, and soon we were sitting on the sofa eating.

"I could move to Boston, you know." My mom said conversationally, causing me to choke on my soup.

"What?" I managed.

"It would be a pain to switch doctors, it's true, but if that's where your life is going to be, I don't want you to feel like you need to choose between me and Sophie."

"Mom! That's, like, a million years too soon to be thinking of."

"Goodness, I hope not. I would like grandchildren eventually." I tried to focus on my soup, and not blush, but it didn't work. "What's her family like? Are they all in the Boston area?"

"Her dad is, her mom, well… Her mom's not really in the picture. She was not the kind of woman you want raising kids, I think. It's probably for the best."

"Poor thing." My mom was all sympathy now. "That must have been hard."

I nodded. At least, even though we didn't talk about my dad, I had good male role models while I was growing up. I wonder who had been there for Sophie. It sounded as though her dad had worked a lot.

My mom finished her soup. "You will ask her tomorrow?" She asked, and I nodded. "Good. I'm going to be out for the day. Some friends and I are going up to Port Angeles, and yes, I will be fine."

I smiled, my mom knew me too well. "Call me if you need anything. It's not too far away – if I run."

She walked over and kissed me on the top of my head. "Good night, child mine. Do not stay up all night texting your girl friend."

"Mom! I only did that once!" I protested, and she laughed, walking upstairs to bed.

After cleaning up the dishes, and putting the house in order, I went outside to our small backyard. As I sat on the steps of our back porch, I could feel the pull, tugging me south and a little west to where Sophie was staying. If she went to MA, would I be able to feel that tug at all? Would I know if she were hurt, or in trouble? When she left, would she forget me and find some boy out in Boston?

"You are brooding again." Leah walked out of the woods, and sat down next to me. She handed me a beer and I flipped the top off. "To our imprints," she toasted, raising her own bottle.

"To our imprints," I agreed and we clinked glasses. After taking a sip I asked, "Do you know what you're going to do yet?"

"No." She admitted. "Caleb doesn't want me to be in pain, or discomfort. He thinks I should stay, and then he'd try to relocate to the Seattle Ballet next year. He thinks he could convince Sophie to do the same, or at least get her to consider it."

"A year."

"I know." She shivered slightly. "We could visit them, they could visit us. We could make it work." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

I nodded, trying to support the idea. "It's unfair." I finally said. "They didn't ask for this. We can't make them choose."

"We didn't ask for this. I am going to have to make a really tough choice in a month, and I know you will too. How can I make it with out Caleb being fully informed?"

"You've had more time – an extra month of time. I still have to tell her everything, convince her I'm not crazy, or dangerous, and then make a choice."

She toasted me with her bottle, silently acknowledging the difficultly of my position. "What did your mom have to say?"

"She wants to meet Sophie."

Leah laughed quietly. "Thankfully Seth had already imprinted, so it wasn't as big of a deal to bring Caleb over. It was funny to try to watch my dad size him up. I don't think he knew what to do with a _ballet dancer_."

"Sophie will have mom enchanted in a few minutes. I have no fear of that meeting. Getting Sophie to come will be a different matter."

"It's simple, just tell her that since you've eaten so much at her house, you want to invite her to yours to return the favor. Then, just casually remind her that you're at home taking care of your mom, so it'll be the three of you. Done." Leah shook her head. "Boys always over complicate everything."

I toasted her plan, and we sat together quietly watching the sky. "I'm running patrols dawn shift tomorrow." I told her, standing up with a stretch. "I should get some sleep."

"I have morning shift after you, so I should head home." She handed me her empty bottle. "See you tomorrow night. Do you want to pick up Caleb and Sophie together?"

I nodded, and we agreed to meet up at their place an hour before Emily expected us for dinner. I watched her walk into the woods before I went back inside.

Mom was right. It would work out.

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A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter from Embry's perspective. I hope you guys enjoyed reading. Next chapter will flip back to Sophie.

As always: questions, comments, responses are more than welcome!

Thanks for reading!


	7. Ballon

A/N - I do not own the rights to Twilight. I wish to make no profit from this story.

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**Ballon - **a bounce-like dance move. Or, in my mind, a step towards rebounding from injury.

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_Sophie_

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By the end of the first week I felt strangely settled into my life in La Push. My knee was stronger than I had expected it to be after just a week of treatment, but when I mentioned that to Dr. Cullen he did not seem as surprised as I was by this recovery. He made notes and pulled out the next step for the training process.

I was taken off the crutches and given a ramp to continue strengthening my knee with knee bends on an angle with increasing weight on my back. It made no sense to me, but after doing my own research I saw that this was a well-used strategy. Caleb, when he found out what I was looking up, laughed and said that Dr. Cullen knew what he was doing, and since he had done well by Caleb's arm and my knee so far I should be able to trust him. I laughed and said that we couldn't be too careful.

I was also allowed to start doing more formal ballet warm ups, and even a few practice routines, to my great delight. I was still very carful with my left side, but to be able to do any real stretches with out being in constant pain was a joy.

However, feeling settled had more to it than just healing and, as I tried to deny it, everything to do with the company I kept.

Embry. I couldn't deny the pull towards him that I almost continually felt. If I could've dreamed up a boy for myself it would have been pretty close to him, and that scared me.

We went to dinner at Emily's house the Friday of my first full week. I had to choke back a laugh as little Ari came rushing down the stairs in a ballerina costume, complete with hair done up in a bun and ribbons.

"I couldn't persuade her to wear anything else," Emily commented to me under her breath as Caleb graciously complemented her outfit. "Al – a friend made the costume for her to wear last year for Halloween. I'm surprised it still fits. She's been talking about nothing else other than seeing you again, she even looked you up on youtube!"

I laughed, not sure of what else to do in my embarrassment and walked up next to Caleb to pass my inspection of what was a passable first position.

"What do you think, Sophie?" Caleb asked. "I taught her that one."

"It's very good." I replied, bending down to turn her feet out a little more. I moved into my first position, and demonstrated the arms. Ari tried to copy me, though her fingers were all out of place. Caleb gently reached over to correct them, and Ari instinctively stiffened all the muscles in her hand in response. "Be gentle with your hands," I softly advised her. "Think of your body as one long shape, no part of it is too tight or too loose."

She nodded gravely, and then looked up with a mischievous look in her eyes. "Will you dance for me?"

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. "Right here in your mom's living room?" I asked her.

"Yes." She demanded. "Please."

I laughed at that request. "I can't dance on carpet, but I'll invite you to come over one day and you can see me dance, if your mom lets you."

"Mom will let her," the older daughter said. "Mom would let her get away with murder." I realized we had drawn a small crowd of gazes as we talked with Ari. We were standing in the living room, some one was sitting on almost every seat, and a few were sitting on the floor. I shivered and wished Embry hadn't stayed in the kitchen, I never did well with strangers.

"The curse of being an older sibling, right Sarah?" Caleb joked, nudging me with his shoulder. "Nothing Soph needed to worry about…" he trailed off his joke having gone too far.

The silence felt oppressively awkward to me as I struggled to find something to say.

"Let's watch _Sleeping Beauty_!" Ari cried out, focusing my attention back on her.

"Um… I think your mom said dinner was almost ready…" one of the guys sitting on the couch reminded her.

"Just my favorite part." She pleaded as she pulled on my hand to move me to the television and turned it on.

I sat on the floor, relieved I could now do so with out pain and with out crutches, and absently stretched as Ari switched to the DVD setting. "Which is your favorite part?" I asked her. "When Flora and Merriweather argue about the dress? Or when Phillip fights the dragon? Those were my favorites when I was your age."

Ari looked blankly at me, before turning to hit play. Tchaikovsky's music blared through the speakers, and I suddenly realized what I was watching. "You are dead to me, Caleb." I muttered, my face flat on my legs. On the screen I was dancing as Aurora, revealed to the Prince for the first time in a dream. "How did you even get a recording of this?" I didn't lift my head of my legs; I just turned my face to the side.

"I have my ways." Caleb teased, nudging me gently. "How could I not get a recording of your first role as a Principal Dancer?"

"That means you're the best." Ari said, not taking her eyes off of the screen. "Principal Dancer means the best. Caleb said so."

"So much hate." I told Caleb and glanced up to see how everyone else was taking to being force fed ballet. To my relief they seemed to have continued with the conversation that I caught snippets of as I entered the room.

"How do you do that?" Ari asked, and I pulled my attention back to the screen. I was en pointe and being pulled across the stage by the Prince.

"Um…" I tried to think of how to explain this to a three year old. "It's a part of balancing, and also I'm leaning on his arm pretty hard."

"It doesn't look like it." She pointed out.

I had to smile at that. "I practice hard to make it look like I'm floating. When I dance for you at some point I'll make Caleb help me show you how it works."

"That seems like a fair punishment." Caleb agreed and ruffled my hair. "I'm just so proud of you, how could I not show everyone how talented you are?"

"You are joking – right? You haven't shown everyone."

"Well, he's show the entire pack," Ari said, eyes still glued to the screen.

"And his grandma," Leah added, entering the room and picking up on the conversation.

"And the Cullens," Embry was on her tail as they walked over to sit by us.

"So just about everyone." Leah finished, leaning in on Caleb's arm

"Dead to me." I groaned, my head back on my knees as I hid my blush.

"Shh – you're missing the best part!" Ari exclaimed, and I watched as I gave a final flourish and disappeared. "Now the Prince swears he's going to find you and wake you up! And you fall in love and dance and live happily ever after!"

I laughed. "Some thing like that, yeah."

"Are you married to him?" Ari asked pointing to Erik, the man who played Prince, who was now the focus of the camera.

"What?!" I shouted, and then put a hand over my mouth as the conversation in the room died down.

"Are you married to him? He woke you up and you kissed, so you're going to get married, right?"

Caleb was shaking with laughter. "You wanna field this one?" I hissed at him, but he shook his head, unable to catch his breath.

"Um, Ari. When, well, when I dance with some one…" I mentally tried to reason this through for a three year old. "Ok – you know how you have make believe games, right?"

"Yes, I play Little Red Riding Hood with Daddy."

"Ok, well you know how it's just pretend right? Well that's what I do. When I'm on stage with another dancer, it's like we get to play pretend. Only we play pretend with dancing instead of words, and in front of other people. So here we're play pretending to be in love, but it's not real."

"But some times play pretend is real." Ari was insistent. "Daddy is really a wolf."

I puzzled through all the connotations of that sentence, but before I could reply Emily came into the room calling us for dinner. As I looked around, I realized that everyone was gazing intently at me, with similar expressions of expectation written on their faces. When I didn't react the way they clearly expected me to, they got up and went obediently into the dining area.

"Not real?" Embry asked as he helped me up.

"Dance is a show." I replied with a casual shrug. "That doesn't mean that there are no dance couples, or that you never dance with some one you're romantically involved with."

"But normally it doesn't really matter if you love some one or hate them, when you dance you have a job to do." Caleb finished for me. "And if you want to get your pay check than you are going to do it."

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"I'm going to give them another fifteen minutes, and then Leah will have to fend for herself to get home." Embry declared as we sat out on the porch at Caleb's grandma's house. Embry had driven the four of us back to the house after dinner and we had barely made it through the threshold when Caleb had realized he absolutely needed to show Leah something in the living room.

Taking our cue from this declaration, Embry and I decided on stargazing out side and were comfortably relaxing on some old lawn chairs.

"Harsh." I commented, turning to face him with a smile. "Fair, I guess, but harsh. Is it even safe for her to walk back to her house?"

"She lives three blocks that way" Embry said pointing.

"But what about the bears and wolves and stuff?" I persisted.

Embry looked like he was trying not to roll his eyes. "The wild animals don't come into town, you know. And Leah is quite capable of taking care of herself."

"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" I quipped, causing Embry to chuckle quietly.

"Exactly."

We were silent for the moment. The stars that we could see through the treetops and the lights from the house were brilliant. More stars than I could remember seeing in Boston. It was easy to get lost in their glow.

"I wanted to ask you," Embry shifted in his seat like he was trying to make himself comfortable, "My, well, I wanted to ask if you would like to do dinner with me at my house some time this weekend, like maybe tomorrow."

"Just us?" I asked, now trying hard not to shift my seat as well.

"Yeah, well, it'd be you and me and my mom. She really wanted to meet you and hear all about dance."

"Oh." I said as my mind went blank. _Meet his mom? Like we're dating?_ Maybe I was reading too much into this, but it was a big red flag in my mind.

"Or not. We don't have to." Embry muttered quickly, looking anywhere but where I sat. "My mom just…"

_Stupid._ I snapped at myself. _Of course you're reading too much into this. He's taking care of family, you know this._

"Sorry," I cut him off. "My mind kinda just… left…" I trailed off lamely. "I think I should be good for dinner, and tomorrow works for me. What should I bring?"

"Yourself." Embry said, with another blinding smile, forcing me to smile back.

"No, seriously. I can bring a salad, or dessert, whatever your mom wants me to bring." I tried to speak normally, though it was hard with my heart constricting my chest so tightly. "Just send me a text…" I realized how impossible that would be at the moment. "Phone." I demanded, holding out my hand.

Embry's look of bafflement eased I took his phone from his hand and typed my number into it.

"Now you can send me a text. Ask your mom what she wants." I concluded.

"She's probably going to refuse." Embry replied, looking at my number on his screen with a soft smile.

"Tough!" I exclaimed with a laugh. "She has a choice, I'll either bring dessert or salad, and she can make a suggestion as to what will fit her meal better."

Leah appeared at that moment, and Embry and I exchanged conspiratorial winks at her slightly mussed hair.

"See everything you needed?" Embry asked blandly, and I choked on my attempt to contain a laugh.

Leah's glare promised retribution. "Just you wait, Embry Call. Just you wait."

Embry raised his hands in defeat, and stood up. "Tomorrow night then?" He asked me, pointedly ignoring Leah.

"Yeah. Tomorrow night." I replied, and he helped me to my feet. "Send me a text for time and stuff."

"I will," he promised, and after a slightly breathless moment he and Leah walked out to the car.

Twenty minutes later, Caleb and I were in the middle of our evening stretches when my phone buzzed.

**Hi Sophie, it's Embry. My mom says to bring salad. We'll have dinner tomorrow at 6. When should I pick you up?**

"Why does he assume he's picking me up?" I laughed to Caleb, after I'd explained the text. "He doesn't live too far away. I could walk."

Caleb rolled his eyes. "Just give him a time, and stop being so obnoxious. You were on crutches last week, obviously he doesn't want you walking."

I gave a dramatic sigh and sent back: **Hi Embry. How about 5:30?**

Within a few moments an affirmative answer returned, and I went back to finishing my stretches, before getting ready for bed.

As I set my alarm, I noticed a final message that had gone unnoticed.

**I can't wait. Sleep well!**

Nothing, I decided as I turned out my light, could ever eclipse the warm spread of happiness I felt at those words.

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A/N - Thanks for reading! I'll post again at the first of next month.

As always, questions, thoughts, comments, or critiques are welcome!


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